Politics and Reality in an American City; The New Orleans School Crisis of 1960. A Monograph.

Inger, Morton

This study focuses on the reasons why one city, which seemingly was ready to be a leader in racial matters, became instead a center for resistance to school integration. When integration began, the reaction of extremists was so intense and prolonged that the city suffered a near catastrophe. The city's most serious problem was a lack of leadership. Not one of New Orleans' leaders had attempted to prepare the community for desegregation, believing that they would never have to desegregate. Politics had been pulverized in New Orleans by a series of developments and conditions dating back to the rise of Huey Long, resulting in a passive reform mayor and elite. The research conducted used both the reputational technique and the issue analysis in order to clarify this study of community power. (Author/DM)